The Brontë Parsonage Museum reopens at the end of the month:The Brontë Parsonage Museum and shop will reopen to the public on Saturday 29 AugustPicture Source: leestuartsherriff. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
(Members Preview Day Friday 28 August)
We are delighted to announce that the Museum will reopen at 10am on Saturday 29 August, following a Members Preview Day on Friday 28 August. Admission will be by pre-booked timed-ticket only and tickets will go on sale from this website at midday on Friday 21 August.
In the meantime, our online shop is open, but dispatching your order may take us a little longer than usual. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding during these challenging times.
The Brontë Society is a registered charity and while we are generously supported by Arts Council England, we rely heavily on income from museum visitors and events. We know we are not alone in worryJust Giving appeal page here.
ing about the impact of being closed for such a long time, but if you feel able to make a donation, no matter how small, to help us through this financially-difficult time, we would be very grateful. You can visit our
Thank you very much for your continued support. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Brontë Parsonage Museum very soon. In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, please continue to look after yourselves and each other.
There’s also a clear affection for the trailblazing feminist work of the Brontë sisters. Not only did she include the defiant work of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre but also her sister, Charlotte’s, seminal work Wuthering Heights. She noted once, “The beauty of both these classics is that they were fantastic when I was a teenager and they still appeal to me now as a 63-year-old woman.”House Beautiful lists the best homes in classic literature:
She even found room on her essential list, the ‘prequel’ to Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea which focusses instead on Mrs Rochester, the ‘wild woman’ who features in Brontë’s novel. Stevie once said of Sargasso, “Jean Rhys wrote this book as a precursor to Jane Eyre because of her love for the Brontë novel. I saw the film adaptation of the book in the early 1990s and it inspired me to write the song of the same name on my album.”
Mr. Rochester's Thornfield HallA retired English teacher in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday looks back on her teaching years:
Although we don’t think hiding your ex-wife in your attic is a particularly great idea, Thornfield Hall is nonetheless an impressive home, and it plays a major role in Jane Eyre. Unfortunately, though, the home is ruined in a fire. As Charlotte Brontë wrote, “Thornfield Hall is quite a ruin; it was burned down just about harvest time. A dreadful calamity! Such an immense quantity of valuable property destroyed; hardly any other furniture could be saved.” She continues, “The fire broke out at dead of night, and before the engines arrived from Millcote, the building was one mass of flame. It was a terrible spectacle; I witnessed it myself.” This home adds to the gothic elements of Jane Eyre (even the name of the house sounds troubling), and it’s also part of Wide Sargasso Sea, which serves as both a prequel and a response to Jane Eyre, written by Jean Rhys. Two English manor houses may have served as inspiration for Thornfield Hall—High Sunderland Hall (which was demolished in 1951) and North Lees Hall (which still stands today), pictured. (Mary Elizabeth Andriotis)
There were so many wow moments. The boys enjoyed Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë more than the girls did, but they both enjoyed learning about the first Mrs Rochester in Wide Sargasso Sea by Dominican writer Jean Rhys. These books sparked heated discussions about cross-cultural love. (Debbie Jacob)Keighley News reports how the Yorkshire Festival of Story is going online this August:
Yorkshire’s rich heritage will be celebrated as the Brontë Society explores the “fierce brilliance” of Anne Bronte in her bicentenary year. (David Knights)Robbie Moore, MP for Keighley and Ilkley expresses his views about the building of a waste incinerator in Morley. In Keighley News:
Should this proposed incinerator go ahead, this smell will blight our area on a permanent basis and could potentially have a damning and lasting effect on local tourist amenities, such as the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, the beautiful Ilkley and Haworth moorlands, the breathtaking East Riddlesden Hall and the world-renowned Bronte Parsonage, all of which draw visitors to our area from all over the world and add immensely to our local economy.The personal reader history of Lin Li Ng on SBS:
On another occasion the same teacher recommended to my class works by authors such as Charlotte Brontë, DH Lawrence and JD Salinger. That texts written by diverse writers weren’t included on many book lists gave me the sense early on that they were of no value (if they even existed at all).El País (Argentina) recommends an interview with Mariana Enríquez in the podcast Pila de Libros:
Mariana Enríquez pasó por Pila de libros, para recomendar eligió Cumbres Borrascosas de Emily Brontë y la entrevista fue tan rica que debieron subirla en dos partes (episodios 3 y 4).More Florencia Kirchner's mentions on the Brontës. El Intransigente (Argentina) posts again today:
Además de analizar y debatir la novela de Brontë, los conductores del ciclo estaban tan fascinados con Nuestra parte de noche que indagaron una y otra vez sobre los personajes, las situaciones y las influencias de la novela. (Nahuel Billoni) (Translation)
La guionista y amante de la literatura compartió una captura de un intercambio con una amiga y eso, la inspiró a escribir unas palabras: «Un aviso de @ileana.bs hace unos momentos y la luna que no quiso que la vea. Pienso en el poema Frances de Charlotte BrontëGalería (Uruguay) talks about The Shining by Stanley Kubrick. Particularly of the collaboration in the screenplay of Diane Johnson and Kubrick himself:. Y pasó más rato, y quiero que afuera haya pero no hay». (Translation)
También leyeron mucho. Freud (su ensayo Lo siniestro) y Bettelheim (Psicoanálisis de los cuentos de hadas) fueron fuentes de información y consulta casi constante, como también lo fueron Cumbres borrascosas, Jane Eyre y los relatos de (y estudios sobre) Poe. (Juan Andrés Ferreira) (Translation)Contro Copertina's horoscope (Italy) mentions Wuthering Heights. An Italian blog tour is taking place reviewing books by the Brontës (Agnes Grey, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights). All the details can be found on Infermieranerd. I Believe in Pixie Dust (in French) reviews The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and La Estantería de Cho (in Spanish) posts about Jane Eyre.
Branwell Brontë's ghost appears in this new gothic novel:The Garden of Bewitchmentby Catherine CavendishModern Horrors reviews it and lists some of the Brontë references:
Flame Tree Press
ISBN: 9781787583412
February 2020
"Cavendish draws from the best conventions of the genre in this eerie gothic novel about a woman’s sanity slowly unraveling within the hallways of a mysterious mansion." – Publishers Weekly
Don’t play the game.
In 1893, Evelyn and Claire leave their home in a Yorkshire town for life in a rural retreat on their beloved moors. But when a strange toy garden mysteriously appears, a chain of increasingly terrifying events is unleashed. Neighbour Matthew Dixon befriends Evelyn, but seems to have more than one secret to hide. Then the horror really begins. The Garden of Bewitchment is all too real and something is threatening the lives and sanity of the women. Evelyn no longer knows who - or what - to believe. And time is running out.
Whilst not strictly a “ghost story,” there’s everything that you would want from a book dealing with a haunting. There’s a haunted board game, the dark Yorkshire Moors setting and, of course, the ghost of Branwell Brontë. (...)
I’m full of praise for The Garden of Bewitchment, and I’m not a believer in picking holes in something for the sake of it. So I fully suggest you go out and get yourself a copy of this book. (I do also suggest you listen to Wuthering Heights a lot whilst reading it, but that’s completely optional). What secrets hide in the garden? Why is Branwell Brontë an important figure to the history of Evelyn and Claire? (James Lefebure)
7/10The Semaphore Version Of Wuthering HeightsIn “The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights,” all the beauty and poetry in the dialogue between Heathcliff and Catherine in movie adaptations of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is gone as the characters communicate using flags. (Ben Sherlock)
En uno de sus posteos más recientes, la guionista recordó el aniversario de nacimiento de Emily Brontë, la mítica escritora del clásico literario conocido como «Cumbres Borrascosas». Junto a postales de su colección de libros de la autora, Florencia comentó: «Hola vida gótica. Hoy nacía Emily Brontë. Escribió poesía y una sola novela que la hizo eterna: Cumbres Borrascosas».«A muchos machotes literarios les hubiera gustado tener un cuarto de la pasión que ella tenía al escribir. Tengo acá ediciones que me regalaron en diferentes cumpleaños u ocasiones mis amigxs, mi hermano y personas que saben todo lo que amo esta novela. Su poesía fue traducida recién hace dos años, pero hoy quiero centrarme en la novela que fue también tan relevante en la vida de muchas escritoras», reflexionó la creadora de contenido sobre la importancia de la pluma de Emily. [...]Para finalizar, remarcó algo de importancia: «También, es hoy, una buena oportunidad para pedir que dejen de clasificarla como ‘novela romántica’ porque no lo es y, advertir que absolutamente todas las adaptaciones cinematográficas que se hicieron son un desastre, a diferencia de las de Jane Eyre, de su hermana Charlotte, que sí tiene buenas adaptaciones. Si quieren acercarse a Emily, de verdad, la única forma es leyéndola, ella escribe en Cumbres: <Bien podría Catherine creer que el paraíso se convertiría para ella en una tierra de exilio, a no ser que se desprendiera no solo de cuerpo mortal, sino también de su carácter mortal>». (Translation)
Finola Austin with Joy Goodwin: Brontë's MistressMonday, August 3, 2020 at 7 PM (Zoom)
Strand Book Store
BrontëBlog joins the blog tour of presentation ofBrontë’s Mistress: A Novel
Finola Austin
Atria Books (August 04, 2020)
ISBN: 978-1982137236 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1982137250 (ebook)
ISBN: 9781797106878 (audiobook)
Yorkshire, 1843: Lydia Robinson—mistress of Thorp Green Hall—has lost her precious young daughter and her mother within the same year. She returns to her bleak home, grief-stricken and unmoored. With her teenage daughters rebelling, her testy mother-in-law scrutinizing her every move, and her marriage grown cold, Lydia is restless and yearning for something more.
All of that changes with the arrival of her son’s tutor, Branwell Brontë, brother of her daughters’ governess, Miss Anne Brontë and those other writerly sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Branwell has his own demons to contend with—including living up to the ideals of his intelligent family—but his presence is a breath of fresh air for Lydia. Handsome, passionate, and uninhibited by social conventions, he’s also twenty-five to her forty-three. A love of poetry, music, and theatre bring mistress and tutor together, and Branwell’s colorful tales of his sisters’ elaborate play-acting and made-up worlds form the backdrop for seduction.
But Lydia’s new taste of passion comes with consequences. As Branwell’s inner turmoil rises to the surface, his behavior grows erratic and dangerous, and whispers of their passionate relationship spout from her servants’ lips, reaching all three protective Brontë sisters. Soon, it falls on Lydia to save not just her reputation, but her way of life, before those clever girls reveal all her secrets in their novels. Unfortunately, she might be too late.
Meticulously researched and deliciously told, Brontë’s Mistress is a captivating reimagining of the scandalous affair that has divided Brontë enthusiasts for generations and an illuminating portrait of a courageous, sharp-witted woman who fights to emerge with her dignity intact.
Aug 03 Brontëblog (Guest Blog)
Aug 03 The Reading Frenzy (Interview)
Aug 03 Austenprose—A Jane Austen Blog (Review)
Aug 04 Lu's Reviews (Review)
Aug 04 The Best Historical Fiction (Review)
Aug 05 The Write Review (Review)
Aug 05 English Historical Fiction Authors (Guest Blog)
Aug 06 Historical Fiction Reader (Review)
Aug 06 Captivated Reading (Review)
Aug 07 Reading the Past (Review)
Aug 07 Diary of an Eccentric (Excerpt)
Aug 08 Book Nursie (Review)
Aug 10 Frolic Media (Interview)
Aug 10 Historical Fiction with Spirit (Review)
Aug 10 Brontëblog (Review)
Aug 11 Chicks, Rogues and Scandals (Review)
Aug 11 A Bookish Way of Life (Review)
Aug 12 Laura's Reviews (Review)
Aug 12 Historical Fiction Reader (Interview)
Aug 13 The Lit Bitch (Excerpt)
Aug 14 Silver Petticoat Reviews (Guest Blog)
Aug 14 The Reading Frenzy (Review)
Aug 15 The Write Review (Live Facebook Interview)
Aug 16 Probably at the Library (Review)
10 fascinating facts I learned about the Brontës while researching Brontë's Mistress
Before I started working on the novel that would become Brontë’s Mistress, I thought I knew a lot about the Brontes.
I’d read all the sisters’ novels, starting as a child with Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, embracing the passion of Emily’s Wuthering Heights during my teenage years, and later coming to appreciate the quieter genius of the third sister, Anne. I’d read several biographies of the family and dabbled in the siblings’ letters and juvenalia. I had two degrees from the University of Oxford, including one in nineteenth-century literature. As part of this I’d written a paper on student/teacher relationships in Charlotte’s Villette, The Professor and Shirley.
But in 2016, I finally read Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë, and stumbled upon a new aspect of the Brontë myth that fascinated me. Mrs. Gaskell, a celebrated novelist in her own right, knew Charlotte, and, in this first Brontë biography, she doesn’t just praise her friend and her sisters. She blames one woman for the addictions, decline and death of Branwell, the only Brontë brother—Lydia Robinson, his employer’s wife, with whom he was rumored to have had an affair.
I spent the next year researching, aiming to discover everything I could about this elusive Mrs. Robinson and her relationship with Branwell Brontë, to shape my novel, which would tell Lydia’s side of the story. Here are ten enticing facts I learned along the way.
1. Branwell was 25 to Lydia’s 43 when they first met
Branwell Brontë arrived at Thorp Green Hall, the Robinson family’s home, in January 1843, when he was 25 years old. The Hall was a fine house near the village of Little Ouseburn near York. He was employed to act as tutor to Lydia’s only son, Edmund (known as Ned, as he shared a name with his father). But at this point, Branwell’s youngest sister, Anne, had already been working for the family for nearly three years. She’d come to Thorp Green in May 1840, aged only 20, to act as governess to the daughters of the household. This meant both Branwell and Anne were closer in age to the Robinson children than to Lydia (43) or her husband (42).
2. Lydia was reeling from two deaths when Branwell first came into her life
Lydia’s mother had just died when Branwell arrived at the house, and her youngest daughter, Georgiana, had died of whooping cough less than two years before. Anne Bronte had been in the house for this tragedy, and was governess to the three remaining daughters—Lydia, Elizabeth (Bessy), and Mary.
3. Branwell Brontë didn’t really live at Thorp Green Hall
Unlike Anne, Branwell actually slept in the Monk’s House, a separate smaller dwelling in the grounds of the Hall. Otherwise known as the Monk’s Lodge, this property still survives as a private residence, although Thorp Green Hall burned down in the late nineteenth century. Branwell shared the Monk’s House with the steward, Thomas Sewell. The man’s sister, Elizabeth Sewell, was the Thorp Green housekeeper, although some scholars have erroneously reported that the pair were husband and wife.
4. Anne and Branwell weren’t the only two Brontës to visit Thorp Green
Their father, the Reverend Patrick Brontë, visited and dined at the Hall in March 1843, as he was due to testify in a forgery case held in York the next morning. This incident forms the basis of an important scene in my novel.
5. Anne Brontë sketched the local church
The Brontes weren’t just talented writers. Anne, like her sister Charlotte, liked to draw, and a sketch of hers of Holy Trinity Church in Little Ouseburn still survives. Comparing her drawing to the church today you’ll notice some key differences, due to renovations in the late nineteenth century. We now know that the Robinsons’ memorial plaques in the church were also moved and that the arrangement of the pews in the chancel in the 1840s meant that Anne could have had her back to the preacher—just like the title character in her novel Agnes Grey.
6. Lydia’s daughters gave Anne Brontë her beloved dog, Flossy
A sketch of the Little Ouseburn church wasn’t the only keepsake Anne Brontë brought back to Haworth with her. The Robinson girls also gave her her beloved spaniel, Flossy. The dog is a “character” in my novel meaning everyone, human or animal, mentioned in the book is real, with the exception of one horse, which I christened Patrocolus.
7. Lydia’s daughter Lydia acted in a way that might remind some of Jane Austen’s Lydia Bennet
Lydia the elder wasn’t the only Lydia bringing drama to the Robinson household. No spoilers here (!), but I was shocked and delighted to discover what happened to the oldest daughter entrusted to Anne Brontë’s care, especially since she also shares her forename with the flighty youngest daughter in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Her story is an important subplot in my novel.
8. Whatever happened between Lydia and Branwell started early…
The Branwell/Lydia relationship has been debated for nearly two centuries but whatever impropriety happened between them seems to have had its genesis early. In May 1843, Branwell wrote to his friend, “my mistress is damnably too fond of me,” and by that November he claimed to have a lock of Lydia’s hair. However, Branwell wasn’t dismissed from his position until the summer of 1845. My novel suggests what might have occurred in these three years and beyond.
9. Branwell wrote poetry for Lydia after his dismissal
In June 1846, a year after his dismissal from Thorp Green Hall, Branwell wrote a poem addressed to Lydia, shockingly titling it “Lydia Gisborne”—her maiden name.
10. Lydia threatened to sue Mrs. Gaskell for libel because of her biography
Lydia was a titled woman by the time Mrs. Gaskell’s life of Charlotte was published in 1857, and, although the biography didn’t name her, she was in no humor to suffer a stain on her reputation. Her lawyers threatened Gaskell and her publishers with a libel lawsuit, leading to the withdrawal of the allegations. I’m still waiting for Lydia or a Brontë or two to start haunting me for how I depicted the affair in Brontë’s Mistress, but I’ve been visited by no apparitions...yet.
Finola Austin is the author of Brontë’s Mistress, which will be released Aug 4 by Atria Books. Find her online at www.finolaaustin.com, tweet her @SVictorianist, or follow her on Instagram or Facebook.
An editor once told me that only "nerdy girls" read all the Brontë books. I took some satisfaction from this observation. (...)The Sun celebrates in its own way the Yorkshire Day and brings back a survey from a few years ago that we already commented on this blog:
From my memories of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and random reading about the Brontë sisters, I had the impression their novels were about miserable people living miserable lives, in miserable country with a miserable climate. But these "other" Brontë novels contain plenty of light, humour and happiness and should not be confined to the readership of "nerdy girls".
Charlotte Brontë's closing lines of Shirley suitably complement the opening lines of her sister's Agnes Grey - and the cracking of the nut. The story is told. I think I now see the judicious reader putting on his spectacles to look for the moral. It would be an insult to his sagacity to offer directions. I only say God speed him in the quest.
Research from Plusnet has revealed what really makes the region special by asking the nation what they consider to be Yorkshire icons.Metro has a more canonical celebration:
The results show a new generation of icons emerging with a chasm between millennials and baby boomers’ ideas of God’s Own Country. (...)
The Brontë Sisters are falling out of favour with only 6 per cent of millennials naming them Yorkshire icons compared to 40 per cent of those aged 55+. (Jennifer Newton)
What is Yorkshire famous for?The Sunday Times on happiness:
The Brontës
Literary heavyweights Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë all hailed from a Yorkshire village called Haworth. Emily’s famous classic, Wuthering Heights, took place in Yorkshire and the moors are a particular focal point. (Aidan Milan)
Is it possible to make yourself happy? Not according to Charlotte Brontë, who memorably noted that “no mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato.” (Stieg Abell)Showbiz Cheat Sheet talks about Stevie Nicks inspiring in Twilight to compose a new song:
She also saw a lot of weight to the story of Bella and Edward as pretty significant, comparing it to a couple of literary classics.Svenska Dagbladet has an article about writers' homes:
“It’s a huge love story… it’s like Wuthering Heights, it’s that kind of story,” she said. “It’s like Jane Eyre… it’s a totally timeless kind of story that we can relate to.” (Alani Vargas)
Bröllopsklänningen må lyfta in Brontë i fiktionens värld men paradoxalt nog är det ändå kläderna som levandegör henne mer än några andra föremål i Haworth. (...)Vogue (Brazil) lists 'unforgettable' period films :
Virginia Woolf skriver till exempel att dessa ”reliker” griper henne djupt eftersom de får människan Brontë att komma till liv, samtidigt som författaren Brontë försvinner i bakgrunden. (...)
Plagget är centralt för en viss Brontë-myt, skriver [Nicola J.] Watson, och placerar författaren i hennes mest kända verk, ”Jane Eyre”, vars mest kända mening lyder ”Reader, I married him". (Annika J. Lindskog) (Translation)
O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes (2011)Exitoína (Brazil) also recommends Wuthering Heights, the book:
Elementar e erótico, a reinvenção de Andrea Arnold do romance de Emily Brontë, do século XIX, está cheia de nostalgia. O filme elenca Solomon Glave e James Howson como encarnações mais jovens e mais velhas de Heathcliff - a primeira vez que o herói byroniano foi interpretado por atores negros - e Shannon Beer e Kaya Scodelario como a selvagem e rebelde Cathy. Como amigos de infância, eles atravessam pântanos enevoados e morros varridos pelo vento juntos, mas quando adultos, o amor deles logo se mostra mutuamente destrutivo. (Rhadika Seth) (Translation)
O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes: O livro retrata a trágica história de amor e obsessão entre a obstinada e geniosa Catherine Earnshaw e seu irmão adotivo, Heathcliff. (Translation)The Fiction Addiction posts about The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.
The Diary Papers of Emily and Anne BrontëA few years ago we already posted about the publication of Branwell Brontë's juvenilia piece, The Pirate.
Edited by Christine Alexander, with Mandy Swann
Juvenilia Press
ISBN: 978-0-7334-3374-0
The Diary Papers provide a rare insight into the early creativity, everyday affairs and anxieties about the future of two of the famous Brontë sisters. Written in minuscule script over a span of eleven years and illustrated by lively sketches, the fragments record details of Emily and Anne’s imaginative Gondal world amongst references to sewing, cooking, pets, servants, family travels, and future plans that reveal their personal differences despite their intimacy.
That last bit is truly heartbreaking. Please remember that you can donate towards keeping the Brontë Parsonage Museum alive.The corridors once walked by the likes of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters have been silent for the past four months, as the museums at the homes of some of the UK’s greatest authors have been closed. But after weathering the threat of permanent closure posed by the coronavirus pandemic, many of the UK’s places of literary pilgrimage are tentatively preparing to reopen. [...]At the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, staff are hoping to reopen at the end of August, with a timed entry scheme for visitors. They have in addition been running The Brontë Lounge, a strand of live talks on Zoom with authors including Tracy Chevalier in the meantime. Emergency support from ACE has also helped, and means the museum can survive until September, but a public appeal for funds has so far raised just £5,000 of the £100,000.“Our strength is that we have a really beautiful domestic setting, but that is also a weakness when it comes to social distancing and footfall,” said the museum’s Rebecca Yorke. “Visitors will have a really special experience because they’ll have space and time to themselves, but going forward we’ll have to see how viable that can be.”“There is so much love for the museum and the Brontës, it is unthinkable that in 12 months’ time we might not be here. It’s really hard to say that out loud but it’s the uncertainty, it is not knowing how long measures will be in place, how quickly footfall will resume.” (Alison Flood)
The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge: ‘Posters for cancelled shows haunt me’This much-loved 200-capacity venue – built by trade unions in 1924 – is somewhere magic happens. Booker Mal Campbell once drew up a “fantasy wishlist” of acts he’d love to play here, and his dream for Patti Smith actually came true. “It turned out she was a big fan of the Brontës [from nearby Haworth] and Sylvia Plath, who is buried on the hill here,” he explains. Smith donated her fee for the 2012 performance to the flooded town, while other big names who have performed at the socialist members club include Mark Lanegan and Laura Marling. “For decades people have banged tables and sung,” sighs Campbell. “The posters for cancelled shows haunt me.” (Dave Simpson)
Of books, she writes, “I lived in them and felt them living in me. I felt I was Jane Eyre and Celie and Mr. Biswas and David Copperfield . . . I found myself feeling with these imaginary strangers: feeling with them, for them, alongside them and through them, extrapolating from my own emotions, which, though strikingly minor when compared to the high dramas of fiction, still bore some relation to them, as all human feelings do.” (Charles Johnson)
[He also had an] astounding ignorance of English literature. I recollect [when he was] the Prince of Wales, years ago, saying to me, 'Look at this extraordinary little book which Lady Desborough says I ought to read. Have you ever heard of it?'The extraordinary little book was Jane Eyre.Then there is the famous story of his having luncheon with Thomas Hardy and his wife during a tour of the Duchy of Cornwall.Conversation flagged, and to reanimate it the Prince of Wales said brightly: 'Now you can settle this, Mr Hardy. I was having an argument with my Mama the other day. She said you had once written a book called Tess Of The d'Urbervilles, and I said I was sure it was by somebody else.'Thomas Hardy, like the perfect gentleman he was, replied without batting an eyelid: 'Yes, Sir, that was the name of one of my earlier novels.'
Johanna's “God Wall” of icons and savants: the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Taylor, Sylvia Plath, Cleopatra, Jo March, Karl Marx, Donna Summer. . . (Jane Mulkerrins)
A common concept today about the children portrayed in Victorian literature is that they are innocent in spite of their sufferings and brutalization by the society. One can refer to an apotheosis of childhood innocence through characters like Dickens’s Oliver Twist, Little Nell in Old Curiosity Shop, and Pip in Great Expectations, or Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. During the Victorian era morality and didacticism were appended to the Romantic imagination, and these childhood victims of social injustice were redeemed by their inherent sense of goodness and modesty. Consequently, later on in life these victims of tyranny did not turn into tyrants themselves.And some others celebrating Kate Bush's one, with mentions to her Wuthering Heights song: "When Music and Literature merge: Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights" in Business & Arts. "Kate Bush Has Disappeared, But Her Influence is Everywhere" in Complex, "Wuthering Heights di Kate Bush: fra letteratura, amore e fantasmi" in Metropolitan Magazine (Italy). "Ikona muzyki, Kate Bush obchodzi urodziny!" in Kulturalne Media (Poland). "Cantante, danzatrice, cantastorie: i mille volti di Kate Bush" in Stone Music (Italy). And Farout, RTVE, Onet, NPO Radio 2, L'Avenir...
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, however, treats children and their sufferings in a very different manner. Peter Coveney observes, “the symbol which had such strength and richness in the poetry of Blake and some parts of the novels of Dickens became in time the static and moribund child-figure of the Victorian imagination”. Emily Brontë perhaps captures this idea more acutely than any other of her contemporaries. (Shohana Manzoor)
NYC-based guitarist and composer Charlie Rauh has taken up the mantle for the next chapter of Brontë tributes with his third album, The Bluebell (Destiny Records), due out 28 August. Rauh’s lullabied homage to the poetry of the famed Yorkshire wordsmiths. Rauh is a fixture in the NYC music scene, as a performer, well respected studio musician, and artist-in-residency with the likes of The Rauschenberg Foundation, The Klaustrid Foundation, and The Chen Dance Center. Rauh’s approach to solo guitar composition takes inspiration from folk lullabies, plainchant, and the imagery of various poets, ranging from the Brontës to Anna Akhmatova.The Minnesota Opera has reformulated its 2020-21 season and one of the events will be:
“I’m massively influenced by Joy Division both in the music and lyrics, as well as southern gothic writers like Flannery O’Connor,” says Rauh. “But the Brontës essentially invented the goth genre!”
Two productions from Minnesota Opera’s archive will also be presented online for the first time as part of the fall season.Look what hangs on Deborah Levy's walls, via Financial Times:
Bernard Herrmann’s “Wuthering Heights,” an operatic adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel, was staged at Ordway Center in 2011, in a production the Star Tribune said “could hardly be bettered.” It’s available to stream for $10-$15 Oct. 10-24. (Terry Blain in the Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Pride of place on the wall of my shed is an artwork gifted to me by Cornelia Parker. It’s a black-and-white photograph of Charlotte Brontë’s quill and is part of a series titled Brontëan Abstracts. Parker used an electron microscope to magnify various objects and artefacts belonging to the Brontë family at the Parsonage Museum in Haworth, such as their needlework and even strands of their hair. Charlotte’s quill, in this photograph, resembles the wing of a bird. In my own mind, it is there in my shed to give flight to my own words.ABC (Australia) explores the role of priests in fiction:
Clergy have been painted alternatively as obsequious try-hards (as in Mr Collins in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) or morally astute and wise (as in George Eliot’s Rev. Fairbrother in Middlemarch). A clergyman is certainly not someone that a woman like Jane Eyre would want to marry — even the violent Rochester is preferable. (Michael Jensen)The Dartmouth reviews the latest album by Taylor Swift, Folklore:
Telling another story, “invisible string” shares a tale of modern love, teeming with literary references from Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” and Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises.” (Shera Bhala)Pix11 mentions that
[Patricia] Park is no stranger to writing about New York. The novelist is the author of “Re Jane," a modern day retelling of the Charlotte Brontë classic “Jane Eyre.” Her novel is set in the outer boroughs. (Shirley Chan)A literary contest judge talks about it in the Shepparton News:
On the other hand, we don't know much about Emily Brontë at all, apart from her dark and brooding novel Wuthering Heights and some poems. They tell us she must have had a dark and brooding childhood, which by the accounts of others was true. (John Lewis)The Film Experience talks about Ryuichi Sakamoto's scores like:
1992's Wuthering Heights saw the Japanese composer create some of his most romantic symphonies. (Cláudio Alves)Het Parool (Netherlands) recommends Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys:
Waar gaat het boek over? De rijke creoolse erfgename Antoinette Cosway, dochter van een voormalige plantagehouder, trouwt met een Engelsman. Ze vertrekken van Dominica naar het huis Thornfield in Engeland. De Engelsman, die niet direct bij naam wordt genoemd, vertolkt mister Rochester uit Charlotte Bröntes Jane Eyre en Antoinette vertolkt ‘The mad woman in the attic’. Hoewel hij in eerste instantie gefascineerd is door haar schoonheid, voelt de Engelsman zich steeds meer gefrustreerd door haar ondoorgrondelijke karakter. In Engeland raakt Antoinette, steeds meer in een isolement en als het gerucht de ronde begint te doen dat er in haar familie krankzinnigheid voorkomt, wordt haar situatie steeds ondraaglijker. (Dieuwertje Mertens) (Translation)Todo Literatura (Spain) interviews the writer Adolfo García Ortega:
Javier Carrascosa: Afirma en la contraportada que lo contemporáneo y lo clásico están unidos en un mismo tejido celular sin tiempo y sin espacio ¿no es todo lo mismo?Metro Libre (Panamá) interviews the writer Lourdes Luna:
La literatura tiene tiempos y conexiones que le son propios. Esto se descubre cuando se lee y sobre todo cuando se lee variado y con regularidad. En algún momento inesperado de las lecturas, uno se descubre leyendo, por ejemplo, el Quijote. De ahí partirá hacia otras lecturas, como las Novelas ejemplares, o a Madame Bovary, o Jane Eyre, a Séneca, etc. Y mientras lee lo clásico mezclado con lo contemporáneo, descubrirá decenas de conexiones y cercanías, como si la lectura fuese un tiempo presente constante y fuera de la historia. (Translation)
Lineth Rodríguez: ¿Tu autor favorito y libro favorito?La Libre (Belgium) talks about Jane Campion and describes like this Holly Hunter's character in The Piano:
Tengo varios autores favoritos: Alejandro Dumas, Stieg Larson, Lars Kepler y Charlotte Brontë están en mi lista. Libro favorito sí puedo mencionar solo uno; indiscutiblemente “El conde de Montecristo”. (Translation)
Elle a d'ailleurs davantage le type Brontë. En la voyant, on se demande comment autant d'énergie peut se dégager d'un être si petit, si fin. (Fernand Denis) (Translation)Il Manifesto (Italy) interviews the writer Claire Evans:
Clarín (Argentina) mentions the Robin Hood collection of novels, published in the 1940s, which included Jane Eyre with this cover. ScreenRant mentions Monty Python's Semaphore version of Wuthering Heights. EssexLive describes Northey Island like the Wuthering Heights of Essex. Boho Weddings presents the Shades of Wuthering Heights style shoot. The Shatner Chatner posts the second instalment of Hannibal vs. Jane Eyre series of posts. Sogni d'inchiostro (in Italian) reviews Agnes Grey. Leer en la Luna (in Spanish) reviews Wuthering Heights. The Shakespeare Option posts about Jane Eyre.Guido Caldiron: In questo senso, c’è un libro dell’epoca vittoriana che l’ha influenzata più di altri?
Sì, senza dubbio, anche se si tratta probabilmente di uno dei testi che ha rotto di più con i canoni narrativi dell’epoca. Si tratta di Cime tempestose di Emily Brontë. Credo di averlo letto almeno dieci volte in varie fasi della mia vita. Penso che ci sia qualcosa di sfuggente, qualcosa di inconoscibile nel libro che a ogni nuova lettura mi riprometto, ma sempre invano, di scoprire. (Translation)
Weavers Guest House in Haworth is also lending a hand to celebrations by taking over the Visit Bradford Instagram account for a week (from August 1-9) to give people a closer look at the picturesque cobbles, moors and landscape in and around Haworth and Brontë County. (Natasha Meek)
Half-way up, on the right, was a block of four terraced houses.“Just below these on the left in School Lane were two old cottages (now demolished), one of which was occupied by Anne Brontë, one of the Brontë sisters, and her friend.Charlotte was a teacher but so was Anne. She taught my grandfather, who paid half a penny for two mornings a week, or two pence for a full week.My mother had his maths book with every sum ticked correct and signed by her.“When the cottages were demolished, the council agreed to erect a plaque stating that one of the cottages had been the residence of one of the Brontë sisters. I don’t know if this was ever done. (Margaret Watson)
[His] novels are unlike any other writer’s. People have likened them to poems, to visions, to pantomime, and they are all these things. If you want to see how different he was to all his contemporaries, just try to imagine George Eliot or Thackeray or the Brontë sisters doing those reading tours, when thousands of people, the poor in multitudes, came to hear him. Nothing like it had been seen since John Wesley’s preaching tours.
Evie’s best friend Margaret is ‘destined for teaching’ but, inspired by her idols (Charlotte Brontë, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen), Evie dreams of a more independent life, far away from her rural home… a world of glamour lived under the bright lights of London (or maybe even Leeds). (Pam Norfolk)
De las numerosas recomendaciones estivales que la editorial Cátedra nos viene brindando en su activo perfil de redes sociales con el hashtag #UnVeranoMilHistorias, nos quedamos con su desafío literario de «leer en paralelo las tres novelas de las hermanas Brontë, toda una experiencia». Fue en el año 1847 cuando Charlotte, Emily y Anne alumbraron, respectivamente, Jane Eyre, Cumbres borrascosas y Agnes Grey, tres obras maestras de la literatura universal, en una sincronía que deja entrever, más allá de sus virtudes personales, el denominador común del asombroso genio familiar (recordemos, asimismo, que el padre, Patrick Brontë, fue clérigo y escritor de sermones y poemas campestres). (Carlos Pérez Laporta) (Translation)
¿Y tres obras imprescindibles?Me aventuro con estas al azar, porque es imposible semejante reducción. Propongo La educación sentimental, de Flaubert, el Ulises, de Joyce, y Cumbres borrascosas, de Emily Brontë. (Carmen R. Santos) (Translation)
Les films d’André Téchiné n’ont pas toujours reçu un bon accueil de la critique. Il revient au micro d’Elodie Suigo sur le Festival de Cannes de 1979 avec son long-métrage Les sœurs Brontë : "On appelait le film 'Les sœurs Gaumont'," et il ajoute que finalement, il a été peu heurté par ce dédain. "J’étais jeune donc j’étais plus insouciant et plus agressif à cette époque-là ; je ne me suis pas senti trop fragilisé". (Elodie Suigo) (Translation)
2) The Kick Inside (1978)Imponerende debut, hvor den kun 19-årige Bush har skrevet samtlige sange uden hjælp fra andre. Albummet indeholder blandt andet de to klassikere ”Wuthering Heights” og ”The Man With the Child in His Eyes” og viser Bush fra sin mest ungdommelige og romantiske side, med stemmen i det allerøverste leje og hendes smukke klaverspil som en central del af udtrykket, der også tæller et større orkester. Samtidig er der masser af mystik og uhygge, eksempelvis på titelsangen, der tilsyneladende omhandler incest og slutter ganske brat og dermed lukker hele albummet, uden at musikken eller teksten har fundet hvile.Debutsinglen "Wuthering Heights" er inspireret af en BBC-tv-udgave af Emily Brontës romanklassiker af samme navn fra 1847 – Bush havde ikke læst bogen, da hun skrev sangen en fuldmånenat umiddelbart efter at have set de sidste 10 minutter af tv-udgaven. Senere læste hun bogen og fandt ud af, at hun havde fødselsdag samme dag som Brontë, der i øvrigt døde af tuberkulose i 1848, kun 30 år gammel. (Ole Rosenstand Svidt) (Translation)
202 years ago Emily Brontë was born in Thornton. Hers tends to be the thinnest biographies on Brontë bookshelves, and yet there's something intriguing about her literary output that sends people looking for biographies of her in hopes that they can help explain how a provincial - albeit highly learned, despite what Charlotte would have the world believe - young woman could have written such words. (And we are pretty sure that this 'mystery' is a two-way street. Emily may have scorned the public, but we are quite confident that she would have been quite amazed at what Wuthering Heights particularly has achieved in terms of readership, influences, literary status, etc.).Charlotte Brontë steps into her father’s study. In her hand, she holds a book – a hardback volume bound in cloth, with the words ‘Jane Eyre’ stamped on the cover. “Papa, I’ve been writing a book,” she announces, rather understating the true matter of her achievement. In fact, her novel is completed, published, and is selling at almost record speed. “Have you my dear?” the unsuspecting Reverend Patrick Brontë replies, without looking up. As Charlotte continues, the clergyman slowly realises that his daughter has become a literary sensation, in secret, right under his nose. After some time, Patrick calls in Charlotte’s younger sisters, Emily and Anne: “Charlotte has been writing a book – and I think it is better than I expected.” It is good that he approves of Charlotte’s tale, because he’s about to learn that his other daughters have similar stories to tell… (Mel Sherwood) (Read more)
Invisible StringThere’s a handful of standout references in Invisible String. First of all, literary-minded fans have wondered whether Swift had a copy of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to hand while working in isolation, as the “invisible strings” of the song’s title echo Mr Rochester’s musings on his bond with the novel’s heroine. “I have a strange feeling with regard to you: as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you,” he tells her. And to continue the theme, the track which follows is titled Mad Woman - a phrase which conjures up Rochester’s first wife Bertha, literature’s ‘madwoman in the attic.’ (Katie Rosseinsky)
You can picture the candle on her piano flickering as the wax melts over her copy of Wuthering Heights and another song rolls out. (Rob Sheffield)
Between then and 1970 he made some 40 films, but it was in the mid-thirties, in a run of pictures produced by Samuel Goldwyn, that his reputation became firmly established.These notably included Dead End, which made a star of Humphrey Bogart, Wuthering Heights, with Laurence Olivier as a memorable Heathcliffe (sic), and The Little Foxes, which gave Bette Davis perhaps her most notable screen role.
19. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”Since female writers were so heavily discriminated against in the mid-19th century, Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights under the alias “Ellis Bell.” (Ellen Gutoskey)
Do: Heathcliff and Catherine from Wuthering HeightsSpeaking of hot messes, these two deserve that label more than anyone else. Since childhood, they have loved each other, but it’s an obsessive, unhealthy love. Instead of seeing themselves as two different people who complete each other, they see themselves as the same person. Even after Catherine marries someone else (itself problematic), Heathcliff continues to pursue her, and after she dies, he seeks revenge on her husband and even digs up her grave to look at her one last time. Despite the dysfunction, I think we can still learn lessons and this classic romance is still worthwhile, but the novel itself is dense, hard to read, and honestly drags at times. If this story were updated to a modern setting and voice, it could be fascinating—like a dark, disturbing trainwreck you can’t look away from. (Abby Petree)
Tomorrow, at Christie's a first edition of Wuthering Heights (and Agnes Grey) will be auctioned:SALE 18887(Via Fine Books & Collections)
Valuable Books & Manuscripts
July 30
Lot 145: Wuthering Heights. 1847
Emily Brontë (1818-1848)
Estimate: GBP 70,000 - GBP 100,000
(USD 88,200 - USD 126,000)
[BRONTË, Emily (1818-1848) and Anne (1820-1849)]. Wuthering Heights. A Novel. By Ellis Bell. – Agnes Grey. A Novel, by Acton Bell. London: Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847.
Rare first edition of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, one of the greatest and most enduringly popular works in the English language. Volumes 1 and 2 comprise Wuthering Heights, with the supplied volume 3 containing Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey.
Wuthering Heights draws upon the Gothic and Romantic traditions to create a world fraught with passion, intensity, darkness and the extremes of imaginative possibility. Due in part to its distinct landscape and the strange force of its characters, it ‘has emerged as one of those rare texts, like Frankenstein and Dracula, which has transcended its literary origin to become part of the lexicon of popular culture – the subject of film, song and even comedy. At the same time it has become one of the most written about novels in the language, to the point where the novel’s critical history reads like the history of criticism itself’ (Nestor).
Although both Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were written and accepted for publication before Charlotte had completed Jane Eyre, it was the latter work which would be published first. The immediate and enormous success of Jane Eyre prompted Thomas Cautley Newby to bring forward the release of the present works in order to capitalise on the phenomenon. The exact number of copies printed is unknown, but it is suggested by Charlotte in a letter of 13 September 1850 that the print run of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey was limited to just 250 copies. Sadleir 350; Wise pp.97-103.
3 volumes, 12mo (vols. 1 & 2: 191 x 118mm; vol. 3: 186 x 115mm). (Occasional faint spots and stains; vol.3 with title and last 2 leaves darkened at corners, closed marginal tear in E3 into bottom line of text, C7 and O5 with neatly repaired marginal tears, lower outer corners lightly thumbed). Contemporary speckled half calf over marbled boards (vols. 1 and 2 rebacked preserving backstrips, lightly rubbed with small loss at spine ends, front free endpaper of vol.1 detached; the supplied vol.3 bound in modern speckled half calf to style); housed in a modern half calf solander box. Provenance: faint contemporary MS notes to O1 in Agnes Grey volume.
Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.
The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR) will begin operating train rides for the public the following week, on Wednesday August 19. (...)The Evening Standard looks for references in the latest album by Taylor Swift:
[Keith] Whitmore said the K&WVR planned to begin operating trains on the railway line on August 8-9 – not for use by the public – then special services on August 15 and 16 for working members and guests.
He said: “Passenger services will return from August 19 and all tickets must be pre-booked. Trains will operate between Oxenhope and Keighley and will not stop at any other station.
“A vintage bus will operate between Ingrow, Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage to Oxenhope to dovetail in with these services.” (David Knights)
There’s a handful of standout references in Invisible String. First of all, literary-minded fans have wondered whether Swift had a copy of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to hand while working in isolation, as the “invisible strings” of the song’s title echo Mr Rochester’s musings on his bond with the novel’s heroine. “I have a strange feeling with regard to you: as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you,” he tells her. And to continue the theme, the track which follows is titled Mad Woman - a phrase which conjures up Rochester’s first wife Bertha, literature’s ‘madwoman in the attic.’ (Katie Rosseinsksy)These and other connections are also mentioned on TechToday19, Berlingske (Denmark)...
The meal is awkward. The Hollises bring wine, but Reginald doesn’t want to open the bottle. “We follow the Bible,” he explains. David and Maggie get a strange vibe from Reginald and his taciturn wife, Helen, but they adore the Parker’s daughter, Iris. The grade-schooler begins visiting the Hollises almost daily. David reads her “Jane Eyre.” Maggie buys her a raincoat. (Kevin Canfield)Stylist reviews the film How to Build a Girl:
Johanna is a coming-of-age heroine with a difference. She’s not cool or popular, like the Cher Horowitzs and Cady Herons we’re used to. Instead, she’s a bookworm who counts the Brontë sisters among her personal heroes, hangs out in the library fantasising about the cute boys she doesn’t speak to, and considers her dog to be her best friend. (Caroline Carpenter)Slate reviews the novel Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia:
Some of the literary gothic’s foundational novels are acknowledged classics—Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights—while others—most notably, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca—were unfairly diminished in reputation by their countless imitators and the prestige hit taken by any genre that’s particularly popular with women. (Laura Miller)The Telegraph talks about Olivia de Havilland's Melanie in Gone With The Wind:
Melanie was like lots of my other favourites I liked to weep over: Beth from Little Women, Helen Burns from Jane Eyre, Little Nell from The Old Curiosity Shop, Eponine from Les Misérables. None of them did much to rupture the sinister plan fate had in store for them, and all were guided by the spirit of self sacrifice, until they too were sacrificed. They had a pure goodness that you only find in fairy tales, like the Little Mermaid’s. (Serena Davies)Splice Today reviews the novel 22 Minutes of Unconditional Love by Daphne Merkin:
But given the sketchy (in every sense) nature of Howard Rose, I wonder if someone might write a book retelling the story from his perspective, like the novel Wicked recast the Witch, or Wide Sargasso Sea put an entirely new perspective on Jane Eyre. (Kenneth Silber)The Santa Fe Reporter talks about the pandemic educational choices families are turning to:
From this angle, microschools and tutoring pods are critical solutions for women who, unless they're committed homeschool teachers, need and want to keep their work on the rails. Pooling resources to create such pods is a practical response for families that can't single-handedly hire a private governess (incidental nod to Brontë heroines). This is a real dilemma for moms, whether they're working in drive-throughs, hospitals, or via corporate Zoom, and it's hardly an extreme response. (Lauren Whitehurst)The Yorkshire Post talks about the industrial history of Oxenhope:
The reservoir sits just outside the village of Oxenhope, home to the terminus of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.Morgenbladet (Norway) talks about Lovecraft's legacy. The journalist has a confession to make:
A goods shed there is used for the restoration and servicing of the carriages regularly used on the steam railway, which connects Oxenhope with the likes of Keighley and Haworth, where the Brontë sisters grew up. (Laura Reid)
Av og til spør avisene kjente forfattere og kritikere hvilke berømte bøker de enten aldri begynte på eller aldri ble ferdige med. Min egen lesning er usystematisk. Jeg har for eksempel aldri lest noe av Jonas Lie eller Emily Brontë. (Thomas Hylland Eriksen) (Translation)Agora (Moldova) lists classic novels adapted to the screen:
Jane Eyre. Este cel mai cunoscut roman al scriitoarei Charllote (sic) Brontë. Inițial, acesta a fost publicat sub pseudonimul Currer Bell în anul 1847. Cartea prezintă o autobiografie despre experiențele eroinei din copilărie și până la maturitate, scoțând în relief toate momentele dificile și fericite prin care trece protagonista. De-a lungul timpului cartea a cunoscut mai multe ecranizări: în anul 1943, în 1996, în 1997, în 2006, iar cel mai recent film a fost lansat în anul 2011. (Ilinca Fiodorov) (Translation)Lood (Estonia) interviews the actress Ülle Lichtfeldt:
“Jane Eyre'is” keerutab mr Rochester ehk Hannes Kaljujärv tantsu oma hullu naise ehk minuga, loobib, tirib, pööritab ümber oma telje. (Tiiu Suvi) (Translation)Hertfordshire Mercury includes an easy Brontë question in a general knowledge quiz. Vital Thrills announces that Wuthering Heights 1992 will be on the Starz catalogue next month. La Opinión de Murcia (Spain) mentions Dante Rossetti's famous comments on Wuthering Heights.
